Cigarette holder

ABSTRACT

A cigarette holder having a pair of recesses formed in the sides of the holder at its mouthpiece end and the holder being divisible into separable upper and lower parts by a hinge at the mouthpiece end of the holder, thereby preventing direct striking of tobacco smoke against mouth tissues and permitting simple and positive cleaning of the holder.

United States Patent 1 1 eans [72] inventor Yoshinori Nishida 26Hoshirnoto okuno-cho, Yawatu-cho, Tsuzuki-gun, Kyoto-in, Japan [21] ApplNo. 836,116 122] Filed June 24, 1969 [45] Patented July 20, 1971 [32]Priority July 1, 1968 [331 Japan .1 1 55,849

[54] CIGARETTE HOLDER 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

' s2 u.s.c| 1311/199, 131/229 [51] Int. Cl A241 07/00, A24f 13/02 [50]FieldolSearch 131/199, 229, 230, 1 1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 632,565 9/1899 Hall 131/199Hauser Berchtold....

Sullivan Martin Segal Droop Sharron....

10/1960 Adams 8/1968 Allseits etal.

FOREIGN PATENTS 5/1911 Germany 1898 GreatBritain Primary Examiner-JosephS. Reich Attorney-Jacobs & Jacobs 131/199 131/199 131/229 131/229131/199 131/199X 131/229 l31/230UX 131/11X CIGARETTE HOLDER Thisinvention relates to a cigarette holder for smoking a cigarette and moreparticularly to a holder having a pair of lateral recesses formedtherein and hinged to be divisible into separable upper and lower partsby a hinge at its mouthpiece end.

As is well known, a conventional holder is constructed so that inhaledsmoke passes directly into the mouth to the throat and bronchus, inalignment with the inlet passage in its mouthpiece.

Since the mouthpiece end of the holder is much narrower than thecigarette receiving and burning portion, the smoke inhaled is very denseand also flows at high speed through the reduced section of themouthpiece. On the other hand, people who use holders are in the habitof holding them in the same position unintentionally, and accordinglythose who have long been users of holders are in danger of sufferingfrom troubles such as irritation and inflammation in regions of thedelicate membranes of the throat, which are reported to give rise tocancers. This fact is also applicable to holders provided with nicotineand tar-reducing means such as a filter.

Furthermore, it has often been mentioned as another disadvantageinherent in holders of conventional types that the nicotine and tareffused and left stuck to the inner wall is difficult of removal withoutthe aid of a slender linear body or a solvent and the task of removing.the tar is itself particularly troublesome. Recently there have beensold on themarket in increasing numbers holders of various types whichare designed to cause the nicotine and tar to effuse and remain insubstantial amounts in the holders-and thereby to remove the harmfuleffects of tobacco. But these holders are all of the construction whichmakes it necessary to leave such a large quantity oftar in the duct thatoperation for removal of the tar not only becomes all the moretroublesome but the tar stuck to the inner wall of the smoke duct isdifficult of complete removal.

A primary object of this invention is to prevent the smoke of tobaccofrom striking directly'against the interior of the throat and thus toreduce the irritationofsmoke by diffusing the smoke in the front throatregion of the mouth.

Another object of the invention is to provide means to make cleaning ofaholder extremely easy, simple and complete by a structure in which theholder is made up of hinged separable upper and lower parts along itslongitudinal axis bysplitting the holder into halves for cleaning.

Still another object of the invention'is to provide a holder of low costthat makes it possible to simply shape a mouthpiece for achieving theprimary object and. the separable structure by the use of plasticmaterial such as polypropylene.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a preferred form of holder to which theinvention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the opened holder with its cigarettereceptacle member detached;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line l-l of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken along line ll-llof FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5 of another embodiment ofthe invention. I

As is apparent from the drawing, the invention comprises a pair ofholder valves 1 pivotally connected by the hinge 2 at the rear end, saidhinge 2 having on the inside a pair of recesses 3,, open on theirlateral sides and meeting at right angles to the longitudinal directionof the holder. The holder halves l, and the hinge 2 are integrallyshaped of plastic material preferably polypropylene, having goodelasticity sufficient to withstand repeated hinging actions.

The hinge 2 is shownin the form ofa solid thin tapered endpieeeconnected to the mouthpiece ll. The recesses 3, are formed by shallowoval slots constituted by grooves 3.

When the holder halves l are closed, i.e,, superposed, they form a smokeduct 4 that extends longitudinally along the interior of the holder fromthe end of the holder opposite to the hinge 2 to the hinge 2, said smokeduct 4 terminating at said recesses 3,. The holder halves l are providedon their peripheral walls 6 of the smoke duct 4 with coupling means 5for holding the upper and lower holder halves l in superposed or closedrelation in conjunction with lugs 8 and grooves 7, said continuousprojected lugs being formed on the peripheral walls 6 on both sides ofthe smoke duct 4 of one holder half 1 and said grooves being formed onthe peripheral walls 6 on both sides of the smoke duct 4 of the otherholder half 1 to receive the lugs 8 therein.

When the holder halves l are superposed, they constitute at the fore endthereof, a cigarette receptacle receiving portion for indirectly ordirectly holding a cigarette. The cigarette receptacle portion shown isan example of indirectly holding the cigarette in which the fore ends ofthe holder halves l are formed to be used as a cigarette receptaclemember having fitting portions 5 over which a hollow cylindricalcigarette receptacle member 9 is press fitted to combine the halves land to protect the receptacle-fitting portions 5 against damage due tothe heat of burning cigarette ll0. But if the coupling force of bothhalves 1 is sufficient, the cigarette receptacle member 9 is not alwaysnecessary, and the portions 5 may be used directly as a cigarettereceptacle portion by coating the inside of the fitting portions 5 withheat resistant material or inlaying the same with a fireproof ring. Thehinge 2 may be of any shape besides the one shown so far as it isadapted to maintain sufficient elasticity to bear the repeated hingingactions of the holder halves l. The smoke duct 4 as shown has portionswhich are made different in inner diameter in such a manner that thecentral part of the holder has a large inner diameter 4 the cigarettereceptacle fitting portion at the fore end has a medium-size innerdiameter 4, and the rear end por tion 4,, is small in inner diameter.This arrangement is intended to remove the harmful constituents from thesmoke oftobacco by taking advantage of the characteristic features ofthe invention that make it possible to split the holder into two partsand to give easy access to the interior of the holder and thus todetachably fit a tar-removing filter 12 such as a fiber filter, silicagel or the like in the large-diameter duct portion 4 But the smoke duct4 of the invention is not always in need of combined use of such afilter 12 but may be a single duct having the same diameter throughoutits length. The lateral recesses 3 allow the use of a semicircular orany other desired shape, besides the flat oval one shown, that changesthe direction of smoke and diffuses the smoke into the mouth.

The grooves 7 and the lugs 8 formed as a coupling means are shown as acontinuation of the peripheral walls 6. This is intended to make thecoupling force of the halves l sufficient and to prevent leakage of thetar in the smoke ducts 4 and make draught of smoke sufficient, and whenthe peripheral walls 6 are sufficient in thickness, it is desirable toincrease the coupling force of the walls by the use of keyways 7, andkeys 8, formed in the center of each wall end surface as shown in FIG.6.

Another characteristic feature of this invention lies in the fact thatthe entire holder is made of synthetic resin having elasticity to bearrepeated hinging actions and is assembled by the elastic coupling forceof the coupling means to place one of the holder halves 1 above theother with the hinge 2 used as a pivot and that accordingly theconstruction described not only prevents the holder from ,beingunintentionally split into two parts during use but also eliminates thepossibility of the nicotine and tar in the smoke ducts 4 leaking fromthe coupling portions because the distance on the keyway and keysurfaces of the coupling means formed on the peripheral walls 6 of thesmoke ducts is great. And when the holder is depressed to expand againstthe coupling force of the coupling means after the cigarette receptaclemember has been detached, the holder can easily be split into its upperand lower parts so that the nicotine and tar remaining in the smokeducts 4 can be removed or washed away with ease, with the result thatsmokers can have draughts of fresh smoke passing through a clean duct 4,thus being released from the nicotine and tar odor incidental to smokingwith a holder. Furthermore, the hinge 2 and the holder halves 1 can beplaced on a pass production basis by injection molding due to theirconstruction whereby also the solid hinge portion 2 thus has a blindinner surface preventing direct access of smoke to throat tissues.

lclaim:

l. A holder for smoking a cigarette comprising a pair of separable upperand lower parts, a hinge portion connecting said parts at one end in afreely pivotable manner, said hinge portion having a pair of recessesextending at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the holder, saidupper and lower parts being shaped to form a smoke duct when the partsare in superposed position, the smoke duct having plural portions ofdifferent transverse dimensions and extending the length of the holderto the mouthpiece end thereof which has a blind end at the hinge portionfor directing smoke laterally outwardly through said recesses, saidsmoke duct having its largest portion centrally of the length oftheholder, an internally and externally relatively reduced outer endforming coupling means and a receptacle adapted to receive a cigaretteend and fitted over the coupling means and a relatively narrow duetportion extending to the inner surface of the hinge portion.

2. A holder according to claim 1, wherein the coupling means has aninterfitting keyway and key in its walls 3. A holder according to claim1, wherein the receptacle is in the form of a socket which, when fittedin place on the coupling means, maintains the separable holder parts insuperposed portion.

4. A holder according to claim 3, wherein the socket has an aperturedtransverse wall abutting the coupling means 5. A holder according toclaim 1, wherein said recesses are flat and oval.

6. A holder according to claim 2, wherein the coupling means is anintegral extension of the separable parts.

7. A holder according to claim 1, wherein the parts thereof are composedof polypropylene.

1. A holder for smoking a cigarette comprising a pair of separable upperand lower parts, a hinge portion connecting said parts at one end in afreely pivotable manner, said hinge portion having a pair of recessesextending at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the holder, saidupper and lower parts being shaped to form a smoke duct when the partsare in superposed position, the smoke duct having plural portions ofdifferent transverse dimensions and extending the length of the holderto the mouthpiece end thereof which has a blind end at the hinge portionfor directing smoke laterally outwardly through said recesses, saidsmoke duct having its largest portion centrally of the length of theholder, an internally and externally relatively reduced outer endforming coupling means and a receptacle adapted to receive a cigaretteend and fitted over the coupling means and a relatively narrow ductportion extending to the inner surface of the hinge portion.
 2. A holderaccording to claim 1, wherein the coupling means has an interfittingkeyway and key in its walls.
 3. A holder according to claim 1, whereinthe receptacle is in the form of a socket which, when fitted in place onthe coupling means, maintains the separable holder parts in superposedportion.
 4. A holder according to claim 3, wherein the socket has anapertured transverse wall abutting the coupling means.
 5. A holderaccording to claim 1, wherein said recesses are flat and oval.
 6. Aholder according to claim 2, wherein the coupling means is an integralextension of the separable parts.
 7. A holder according to claim 1,wherein the parts thereof are composed of polypropylene.